One of the things I clearly recall from those
very early trips to the Pico Raceway, in Rutland, Vermont, at a very tender age,
was my father and uncle talking to their friend about the flag man. In the early
1950’s, almost every starter, in an attempt to be Errol Flynn – swashbuckling,
would lag off the races from right on the racing surface. This could be said of
Tex Enright, George Welch, Archie Blackadar, Art Prairie, and dozens more like
them. The there was Chet Hames.

empaonline.com Photo50% Cherokee and damned proud of it, Tex Enright was arguably
the single most colorful flagman in the
history of stock car racing in the eastern U.S. Below – Archie Blackadar
was known to start races on the track at Malletts
Bay Raceway and dive into a special ditch made for him to survive.

Norman McIver Portrait Photo Courtesy of Cho
Lee

What set Hames apart was the fact that he would
actually start the race BETWEEN the two rows of onrushing ill-handling missiles
often driven by amateurish and less – than – sober drivers. I can still vaguely
get a visual image in my mind of him bouncing up and down among those dust –
scattering jalopies. It is a darned good thing they didn’t go too fast in those
days.

Hames circulated in a sort of traveling
triumvirate of himself, as flagger; Les King, as photographer; and Red Wildey,
as track announcer. The trio served tracks such as Pico, Mettawee Speedway in
North Granville, NY; Stateline Speedway, and near Bennington, VT. According to
King, they all would have served at the newly – opening Fonda Speedway, as well,
had Hames and Wildey not taken off without him, leaving Russ Bergh to get the
coveted job there. That was 1954; King was still pissed in 2007.

John Grady PhotoHames, at his traditional flagger’s platform that Fonda made
him use as Fonda speeds no longer allowed starts on the track.

After Pico and the other nearby tracks all
closed down, I had to content myself with second hand Hames stories from Jim
Haley, and other lucky local men who got to travel to those other tracks and
watch Hames. I recall Jim mentioned Fonda finally made Hames use a starter’s
platform located in front of the announcer’s tower at Fonda, fearing that the
ever – increasing speeds were going to kill him.

After years of missing any racing action, some
local tracks started up; but none of them hired Chet Hames. I did see his
protégé, Danny Rumpf, flagging at Fairmont Speedway. Rumpf’s strutting and
prancing on the side of the track and flamboyance, I was sure, was prodded on by
Hames. Rumpf was a good Hames student, tall and skinny. Chet, himself, was
remarkably tall – one of those people who was all legs and not much torso. His
height was best illustrated when posing with others, like the diminutive Howard
“Jeep” Herbert, one of the guys I remember from Pico days.

Herbert Family PhotoChet towers over the much - shorter Jeep and
Dolores Herbert at some sort of presentation during a
Fonda race program. Jeep was a star driver and Dee was a scorer there for many
years.

Finally, in 1963, I got a chance to get to
races in the fabled Fonda fairgrounds. I recall announcer Mike Valchovic
introducing Hames, as he prepared to flag practice laps [Valchovic had this
nasal accent]: A-a-a-a-uynd your starter for tonight’s program ! The very
colorful, the very popular, Chet Hames, of Sarato-o-ga !” Hames, clearly
drinking in the adulation, postured and strutted about on his platform, scant
feet from what was about to be mind – boggling speed on the track below him.
According to most who knew him, he was drinking in more than that.

Bob Mackey Photo Courtesy of John RockChet flags one off at
Plattsburgh, NY’s Airborne Park Speedway. Buck Holliday, Jeep Herbert, and
Bill Wimble, some of his familiar client s at Fonda, are in this photo. Below -
Chet keeps
a close eye on an approaching field at Fonda.Ladabouche Collection

Lew Boyd, Jim Rigney, and Andy Fusco wrote, in
the Fonda history book: “Chet Hames was Fonda’s colorful starter through The
Glory Years ….. Hames’ ballet would have been even more awe inspiring had the
fans known of his propensity to nip the bottle.

“I’d hear rumors that Chet would stop in the
Broadalbin Hotel for a couple every week on his way to Fonda,” says Ed Fuez
[promoter at Fonda]. “I confronted him once about it and he denied it. Then, one
night, I saw him bring in a six – pack of beer into the speedway and hand it to
the infield concession stand guy to keep it on ice until intermission.. A
confronted him again and again, he denied it. So, I walked over to the
concession stand, pulled out the beer, opened it, and emptied it on the ground
right at Chet’s feet. I said, “Chet, you’re done working here. We can’t have
this.”

Ed Fuez Collection

Ed Fuez, the more
demonstrative of Fonda’s two promoters, had enough of Hames by the mid – 1960’s.
Here, he is seen with Chuck Kotwicka, Fonda’s first winner. At right is Mrs. Jim
Gage, wife of
Fuez's co - promoter, Jim Gage.

As a fan, I had heard about this event all the
way over in Vermont; so, I was not completely shocked when our next visit to
Fonda revealed a new flagger, Don Phoenix, who we found out had been flagging at
Midstate, over in Morris, NY. The gum – chewing Phoenix brought order and
organization to the flagstand, but he was not even close to as entertaining as
Chet Hames.

Hames’ influence had already been felt for
years over in Vermont, him having flagged personally at Pico Raceway, Stateline
Speedway, and the old Fairmont Park Motor Speedway. Then, too, Hames protégé,
Danny Rumpf, another Saratogian, had been C.J. Richards’ starter at the
re-opened Fairmont Speedway since its first show in 1962. So, it was not totally
surprising, around mid – decade, when Hames appeared on the flagstand at
Fairmont. The flamboyance and panache were still there. I recall one crash, for
which Hames, confined to an elevated, gated flagger’s stand, grabbed two red
flags and waved them in a manner that would have made a college cheerleader
envious.

Ladabouche CollectionThe Hames influence was
clearly evident with Saratoga native Danny Rumpf, the Fairmont Speedway
starter for several years. This is from the track’s first week.

Hames’ tenure for Richards did not seem to last
long. I honestly do not know if drinking had anything to do with it or not.
Rumors had followed Chet that he had fallen off the stand at Fonda one night. I
never saw any unseemly behavior at either track. I heard occasional reports of
how Chet was doing from Fairmont official Jim Frye, who lived very near Chet in
Saratoga. Apparently Hames and veteran Fonda driver George Baumgardner lived
close by one another. Baumie shared Chet’s fondness for refreshment.

Ladabouche CollectionHames neighbor George
Baumgardner and Chet were definitely two racing figures, for whom they threw
away the mold after one casting.

After a fashion the sad news would come about
each of the two racing figures passing away, one after the other. For years as a
kid, all I ever wanted to be was a flagger – and that was all due to Chet Hames.
In our area of the racing world, there would likely never be another like him –
he is dearly missed.

Please email me at
wladabou@comcast.net if you have any photos to lend me or information and
corrections I could benefit from. Please do not submit anything you are not
willing to allow me to use on my website - and thanks. For those who still don’t
like computers - my regular address is: Bill Ladabouche, 23 York Street,
Swanton, Vermont 05488.